Terminal member



, Dec. 14, 194s.

Filed May 14, 1945 IN\\ f v. wv w w mmm w l i f 271/51?? Dr UVP/LJ.FOSTER Patented Dec. 14, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TERMINALMEMBER Application May 14, 1943, Serial No. 486,933

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a terminal member and assembly and moreparticularly to an electric terminal member and assembly which isparticularly well adapted for use on electrical devices such ascondensers, transformers, chokes, etc. which are enclosed in metallic orplastic housings containing oil, wax, tar or other insulating gas, fluidor semi-iiuid.

Many small electrical devices are housed in a closed container which isiilled or partially lled with a liquid or gaseous insulating substance.One or more electrical leads must be brought through the wall of thecontainer for an exterior connection. Accordingly, some provision mustbe made to prevent the escape of the liquid or gaseous insulatingsubstance at each point where a conductor passes through the containerwall. Each conductor should also preferably be insulated from thecontainer Wall.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a novel sealand terminal member possessing the above desired characteristics.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novelcombination rivet, seal and terminal member.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel terminalmember assembly.

Another and further object of the present invention is to provide anovel plastic gasket cr washer for a terminal member assembly.

Another and still further object of the present invention is to providea novel method f-or forming an electric terminal and assembly.

Still another and further object of the present invention is to providea novel method and means for securing a conductor to an electricterminal.

The novel features which I believe to beV characteristic of my inventionare set forth with particularity in the appended claim. My inventionitself, however, both as to its manner of construction and method,together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best beunderstood by reference to the following description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a container for an electric element having apair of terminal members extending from the side thereof and embodyingnovel features of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a terminal and rivet memberwhich forms one embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 3 is a sectional view showing the termi.- nal and rivet member oiFigure 2 in a die press about to be assembled on a wall member.

lil

Figure 4 shows the terminal member riveted in place and shows the upperend of the terminal member sealed 01T Figure 5 is a partial sectionalview of the terminal member assembly taken in a vertical plane at rightangles to that of Figure 4 as taken along the line V-V;

Figure 6 is a top view of the terminal member and assembly as shown inFigure 4;

Figure is a sectional view of a terminal member and assembly showing amodified form of the present invention;

Figure 8 is a sectional view of the terminal member and assembly ofFigure 7 after it has been removed from a die press and sealed off;

Figure 9 is a view of the upper portion of the terminal member andassemblyas shown in Figure 8 as taken along the lines IX-IX thereof;

Figure 10 is a sectional view of a modied form of terminal memberassembly; and

Figure 11 is a view similar to Figure 10 with an outside conductorsealed thereon.

In order to indicate the general environment of the present invention Ihave illustrated in Figure 1 a container IU having a pair of terminalsII and I2 on one of the walls thereof. I-Ioused within the container I0is an electric element I3 such, for example, as a condenser, which iselectrically connected to the terminals II and I2 by conductors I4 andI5 respectively. The container I0 provides a fluid-tight housing for theelement I3 and may contain any suitable insulating fluid, and theterminal members I I and I2 completely seal oi the respective openingsin the wall of the container through which the electrical conductors I4and I5 extend.

The present invention relates primarily to a terminal member and sealwhich before it is assembled on the wall of the container has the shapeillustrated by way of example in Figure 2 of the drawings. This terminalmember and seal as shown in Figure 2 and as generally indicated by thereference character I6 is in the form of a double shank, tubular,rivet-like member having two shank or stem portions I'I and I8 with anintegral head portion I9 lying therebetween. The member I6 has a tubularpassageway 20 oxtending through both shank portions I8 and I'I as shown.The counterbore 2I is provided in the shank portion II and thus providesa thinning ot the material in that region which enables it to be readilyand easily upset to rivet the member I6 in its assembled position on acontainer wall. For a reason which will be more fully explainedhereinafter the exterior diameter of the shank portion I8 issubstantially the same as the interior diameter of the counterbore 2l.It will thus appear that the exterior or outer diameter of the shankportion I1 is greater than the outer diameter of the shank portion I8.

The member lt is preferably made of a soit metal such as softsteel orCopper.

To assemble themember i8 on a wall portion 22 of the container lil anopening 23 is provided in the wall 22 which is larger than the outside.

diameter of the shank portion Il. A group. of washers are then placed oneither side of the opening 23, which group of washers includes a metalwasher 24, a washer 250i insulating. material such as fiber, rubberorBakelite having a small raised end portion 2li which extends partly intothe opening 23 andl centersv the. terminal member it therein, a secondinsulating washer 2l on the outer side of the wallA portion 22 and athird washer of rubber or other suitable material. 281 This grouperwashers Sie, 25, andu 2534 are'assembled 'together with the shankportion li of the member i6 on .the wall portion 2li of'the containerIt. The entire assembly is theny placed in a Ydie press having an upperdievmember 29 anda lower die member 30, the lower die member 3d beingprovided with a central stud. Cilwhich extends up into the tubularportion 2li of the member ltto center the assembly on theiower diemember. The upper diemember Zf'is arranged to be seated directly on thehead E9 of the memberit and thus is directly above the wall of thecounterbored portiony 2l of shank ll'. Since the outer diameter of shanki8 isA not greater than the inner diameter of counterbore 2l?, thecompression force oi vthe die members isapplied directly and lengthwiseoi the counterbore wall portion oi shank l'l. As the die members 2Q andSi! are moved toward each other the lower end of the shank portion ifi.is rolled outwardly as at 32' which securely rivets the terminal memberI6 and the washer assembly to the wall `portion 22 of container lil.

With the terminal member assembly in this position we now have a memberwhichis substantially like' that shown in Figure 3 with the exceptionthat 'the die members have not been removed and the lower end of theshankmember l'l has been rolled over as shown by the dotted linerJ inFigure 3. In this position a conductor 33 which extendsfrom theelectrical element within the container lll is inserted up through theen tire length of the tubular passageway 20 of the member it. Now withthe wire extending en'- tirely'through the passageway 2li the upperportion of 'the 4shank i8 is compressed in a vise or other suitablecompression means until this up per portion ci thel shank l is mashedcompletely flat. This causes the upper end of the terminal member i6 tobe completely sealed 01T as is shown in Figure 4. I have found that whena terminal member is composed of a soft material such as soft steel orcopper that the two confronting innery that shown in Figurefwhereinsides of theup'e' per portion have been notched out as at 34, anaperture provided as at 35 and the tip portion rounded as at 3E.

From the above description it will be apparent that by providing adouble shank hollow, rivetlike member with an intermediate head portion,I have provided a member 'which acts as 'a rivet, a terminal' member,`and a huid-tight seal'for an opening in a container wall.

The general appearance of the top of the assembly after it has beencompletely formed and assembled is shown in Figure 6 of the drawing.

In Figures '7, 8 and. 9 of the drawings I have illustrated a modiiiedform of the present invention. In this form. of the invention a plasticsleeve (His employed instead of the washer assembly previously describedin connection with Figures 2 to 6 of the drawings. More particularly asleeve oi some suitable thermoplastic material is inserted through anopening 38 in a container wall portion 39; The shank portion I7' oftheiterminal member lG. is then inserted throughthe sleeve 37. press andunder pressure the'lower end portionI 4U" or the terminal member I 5 isrolled back over the lower end of the sleeve' and at the same timesleeve 3l' is compressed lengthwise. This compression of the sleevelengthwise causesthe plastic material to ow back over the adjacent edgeof the wall portion 39/ which denes the opening 38. After compression,the plastic sleeve member 38 has the shape as shown in ligurel or thedrawings. It will thus'be-seen that the plastic member 3'! forms its owninsulating washe er assembly since it extends over the. edge of theopening on both sides of the wall portion. InFigure 7 of the drawing Ihave shown in dotted lines the position cfa conductor 4l coming fromthe.

electrical element housed within the container Il).l An intermediateportion of the upper shank i8' of the terminal member IS is then crushedunder. pressure to cause the two confronting facesof the passageway theshank l8` to be bonded together along with the upper endofthe, conductordi. This compression of .-theintermediate portion may be, made ina die.having a sharp..

edge portion which will leave. theupper: portion. 42 of theshank .Idinits original tubular wall form as shown inv Figure 8.' An exteriorconductorf43 may then. be extended down. through this upper tubularportion 42 andhooked over the inner edge Theconductordt may then be`thereof as at lill. soldered orfotherwise suitably secured to-the upperportion 62er the terminal member I6;

The third embodiment of thepresent invention!- is shown in Figures 10and 1l of the drawings. In this'form of the invention theV head'porti'onportion i8.

trical element' YwithinV the container extending entirely through theupper shank portion IB 'of the terminal member. When an exteriorconductor'lli is to beconnected lto the terminalrmember the end of sucha conductor 48 is'insertedin the l upper portion 9 of the'terminalmember so that" 'it lies alongside of and against the upper" end ofshank alongwith the'two conductors'lll.l and 48" together. Theassemblyafter they upper portion Thisvassembly is then placed ina die 49 hasbeen crushed then has the appearance as shown in Figure 11.

This third embodiment of the invention has the distinctive advantage ofmaking a very satisfactory type of connection between the inner conductor 41 and the outer conductor 48 Without the means of solder and atthe same time provides a complete seal for a container on whiich theterminal member is mounted. By providing a head portion 45 whose uppersurface makes an obtuse angle with respect to the shank portion I8,danger of shearing at this point is greatly reduced.

While I have shown particular embodiments of my invention it will, ofcourse, be understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto so thatmany modications may be made and I, therefore, contemplate by theappended claim to cover all such modications as fall within the truespirit and scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

A terminal member and seal for an apertured container housing anelectric element comprising a tubular member having an intermediateilange with stem portions extending from either side thereof and havingan interior passageway therein, a conductor connected to said electricalelement disposed in said passageway one of said stem portions beinginserted through said housing aperture, an annular mass of deformable,uid impervious, electrically insulating material surrounding said onestem portion and disposed intermediate said flange and one side of thehousing, an additional annular mass of deformable, uid impervious,electrically insulating material surrounding said one stem portion andabutting the other side of the housing, the outer end of said one stemportion being deformed outwardly and compressed axially to compress saidmasses of insulating material into fluid sealing engagement with theaperture dening walls of the housing, the other of said stem portionshaving an intermediate portion thereof Whose opposite Wall portions arecompletely collapsed to form a bond with each other and with saidconductor therein suiciently for hermetically sealing olf the interiorof said container and also electrically connecting said conductor tosaid terminal member, the remaining tubular end portion of said laststem having the end of said conductor lying therein, an exteriorconnecting conductor having an end disposed Within said end portion ofsaid last stem alongside of and against said first conductor, theopposite Wall portions of said end portion being collapsed to form abond with each other and With both of said conductors therein.

CYRIL J. FOSTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 650,862 McTighe June 5, 19001,011,439 Kaisling Dec. 12, 1911 1,643,150 Conner Sept. 20, 19271,657,208 Greaves Jan. 24, 1928 1,677,968 Hughes July 24, 1928 1,927,382Andrew Sept. 19, 1933 1,937,431 Mendel Nov. 28, 1933 1,953,188 NorvielApr. 3, 1934 2,034,090 Douglas Mar. 17, 1936 2,052,700 De Lange Sept. 1,1936 2,071,164 Galvao Feb. 16, 1937 2,095,045 Webb et al Oct. 5, 19372,164,311 Doran July 4, 1939 2,211,659 Johanson Aug. 13, 1940 2,368,548Kalstein Jan. 30, 1945 2,374,084 Dubilier Apr. 17, 1945

